Question about bed liner/coatings.

[mrsmith]

Working on the bed of my 67 fleet side. I have been debating on either getting a bed liner or a spray on liner. After going over the forums ; I have found that the drop in bed liners cause a ton of damage under them. So that option is out.
My question is to anyone that has a spray in liner .
Have you ever had one removed to see if the same thing happens under it?
If it is going to be similar ,i will just sand and primer the heck out of the bed and leave it alone.
I appreciate any and all input on this subject. I do not want to ruin what i have worked so hard for month to restore.
Thanks all.
Mr Smith

[Eddie H.]

I can't speak for the other brands, but for the last 9 years I have had "Rhino Liner" in the beds of my last 2 work trucks, and It is one tough coating. I wore out the trucks long before the coating showed any signs of problems.

[jeffahart]

I've had line-x sprayed in quite a few work trucks. I would not spray a bed liner into a classic. Even if you sell the truck you screwed the next guy, if you care about that. If you get a high quality spray in liner then you're stuck with it forever, the line-x don't come off! So, be sure you want it where you spray it... no do overs!

So, I would fix the bed best you can and match best you can to your body color. If you scratch and dent it you can fix it again.

[dennislbrooks]

My 67 has a Permatech body color spary in liner. It is a urethane type. In 2004 most/near none sprayin bedliners did not offer tinting but a shop in Lewisville TX did mine body color - about 1/4 inch thick. When I restored the vehicle, the swb floor was not available yet only repair panels. It still looks new but then again I do not haul anything but coolers and chairs.

I have run bedliners in my daily trucks since 1985 and never regretted it. You can throw about anything in them and they take it. Scuffing of paint was minor and as long as the bed drain holes work, rust out has not been a prob either. I have the orig bedliner in my 2006 put in in Dallas, still a good tool. My 2015 Duramax has the factory spray in that is similar to Linex. I still put a bed mat on the floor as I do not trust the sprayins like a bedliner for wear.

[Jrainman]

there are 2 types of spray bed liner aplications , the old version is the liner is shot like any normal paint or prime would be shot ambient temp , the new version of application by Linex and I think rhino also is that the liner is applied hot , 15 sconds its fully cured .and they claim it will never come off.

You can not sand it out you must peel it out, and it takes forever, that is the only way to remove it ,I have done this in smaller sections just to remove areas for patch panels,

What I have found is that they scuff / sand the bed first and that would make sense to get the spray to stick better , but while peeling these sections the area that had not beed scuffed or that were lightly scuffed the liner peeled off eaiser and the paint was in prestine condition. I have peeled sections from floor and sides with same results .

it would take a good week of hard work to peel a entire bed .

[mrsmith]

Awesome thank you for the input. LOL Now i am back between the bed liner and the spray on. I had not considered how permanent the spray on ones are. I know what drain holes you are talking about ,and mine are all good. The area i live in is very dry typically. Only rains in the winter ,and then it is not a daily happening. The bed is in pretty good shape right now. It has some surface rust ,but nothing that does not sand off easily. Does anyone know of a liner that fits a 67 fleet side that is still made? Seems like a lot of places want to start at 73 now. That is supposed to be a different design????? Again thanks for the help .

[Leonard60]

I've had spray in linners in my work trucks for years now oldest one is in my 2001 GMC still looks like new. You can't hurt them unless you get really abusive. I've gouged the odd spot in 2 of my trucks but they are plumbing trucks and the bed floor takes a lot of abuse. You can get them Color matched to your truck Color if that helps you at all.

[swamp rat]

Something else to consider is if there is any rust lurking between where the panels bolt together, spraying the liner will not stop the rust from propagating so if you did live in wet areas the bed would eventually need to be repaired then your stuck with dealing with the liner. i think i was reading here someone was removing one with a wire brush and scrapers, still a pita.

[71threequarterton]

I personally like the idea of the spray on liner, as long as it's done right. Unless it's a show truck and you're going to restore the bed to original condition, the bed liner seems like a great solution to fight corrosion and stand up to wear and tear. I have the Line X in my 71 C20. I also have my 94 GMC Yukon in the shop right now getting the top taken down to bare metal and sprayed at the Line X shop here in town. Neither of mine are meant to be show trucks so I'm fine with the aesthetics of the spray on stuff.

[Cape Codder]

My truck had a cap most of it's life and never really got used for work. No dents in the bed and original paint pretty fresh except for a couple scratches. I put a rubber bed mat in that is almost a 1/2" thick and it has worked very good for me. It keeps things from sliding around and is easy to take out for cleaning. When you look into the bed you still see painted side walls and wheel houses. I would recommend it for a truck that just gets used for light duty and yard work stuff. If you are gonna be hauling and dragging heavy stuff go for the heavy liner.

[30 a truck]

My bed already had a spray in liner. I cleaned it real good & resprayed it a few weeks ago. Here it is now.

[Cape Codder]

I like the way that looks with the body color retained on the sides for an original look yet an easily touched up floor.